


The Dance

by kassandra_divina_trevelyan



Series: The Andromeda Rewrites [6]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 01:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21128381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kassandra_divina_trevelyan/pseuds/kassandra_divina_trevelyan
Summary: Returning to Kadara for the first time since the Charlatan's identity was revealed to be none other than Reyes, Esme plans to go against the wishes of her crew. Back to where their unexpected love story began and set among the colorful backdrop of Kadara's nightlife, Esme and Reyes reconcile in a night of passion and love.(Mostly canon-compliant with little divergences for more Reyes content)





	The Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @queen-among-writers  
Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Y9QFtVWHb0t6tjeCfkMLJ

The Dance

All was still on the Tempest with the crew retired for the night, and many of them tucked away in bed, sleeping the darkness away. However, one member of the crew remained alert, and she frantically paced around her quarters in a pair of high heels—their leader. Esme bit down on the inside of her cheek instead of her lip to avoid smudging her ruby red lips. She ceased her pacing for a moment for fear she would wear a hole into the ground and listened for any trace of noise. Tonight was incredibly important, and she counted down the minutes since she last was here, knowing the anticipation that built up in her thrumming heart all too well. She could not afford anything stopping her tonight.

“SAM, how are we looking?” Esme pressed her hand against the automatic doors of her quarters on the Tempest and released a shaky breath. She pretended to turn in early for the night, and her crew hardly asked questions when she feigned exhaustion. She brushed her hair back from her face and exhaled deeply, pushing out all her exhaustion. She discreetly asked Kallo for a favor to land in Kadara because she had some important business to handle. He easily complied and altered their course without the others noticing where they were landing. He landed the Tempest in Kadara Port a little over an hour ago, and Esme waited for him, along the rest of the crew, to retire to their quarters for the night. She would sneak off the ship using SAM’s override protocols and meet with Reyes just like she promised days before in the dark of that cave where she drowned in him without hesitation holding either of them back.

_ “The coast ahead is clear, Pathfinder. You should be able to sneak out and see Mr. Vidal without alerting the crew.” _SAM remarked through their private channel, and Esme smiled at the all-clear mention. She could hardly contain her nervous or excited energy at the thought of seeing Reyes from how frequently she drummed her fingers against the door. She didn’t want anyone from the Tempest souring her evening with some drawn-out lecture about how Reyes lied to her and couldn’t be trusted or how he might lie to her again. Esme didn’t care to hear it; thus, she was sneaking out of her own damn ship like some horny teenager snuck out of the house to see a significant other when their parents were sleeping. 

“Prepare the ramp for docking,” Esme commanded SAM, and she used her omni-tool to send the command through SAM before she opened her door. The hallway was empty, and the lights were dimmed significantly, which made Esme’s goal of remaining unseen a tad easier. She made sure to primarily step on the balls of her feet to avoid making noise. She kept one hand hovering near the grip of her Sidewinder, the smallest pistol she had in her arsenal while moving through the darkened and empty ship. Esme scrambled up the later, which was her undoing last time without making a sound. She exhaled in relief and crept toward the bridge. Esme was nearly there when one of the doors in the hallway opened and out stepped Jaal, who stopped when he saw Esme.

“Ryder,” Jaal greeted and surveyed Esme’s attire with a blank expression. Esme nearly cursed upon pure instinct but bit down on her tongue to restrain that instinct. The last thing she needed was to alert the others, who were most likely asleep.

“Jaal…” Esme awkwardly replied in greeting and struggled with the words to say. Of all the people on the Tempest, Jaal was the one she considered closest to being her best friend with Cora not far behind. Esme ran her fingers through her loose waves and glanced at the ramp, which was already lowered to Kadara’s docks. “I’m… heading out.”

“I see,” Jaal remarked and his eyes, intelligent beyond comprehension and filled with a near feline sense of curiosity… and dare Esme say bemusement, met hers. There was a beat of silence between them studying each other before Jaal concluded his statement by saying, “Well, stay clear. The streets of Kadara can be dangerous at night from what I heard. Luckily, your walk to Tartarus and subsequent visit to Vidal should be a reasonably short distance.” Jaal mused aloud and Esme nearly choked on her own cough. She must have misheard or been hallucinating because she swore Jaal just casually encouraged her to sneak out and see Reyes as planned. It became apparent to her that Jaal was serious with his statement and Esme found herself at a loss for words, an unusual occurrence for the ordinarily witty and snarky woman. 

“Wait, you’re not going to lecture me about sneaking out to see Reyes?” Esme inquired, her body relaxing from the physical brace. Although the reaction was instinctual, Esme was not the type who lived according to the opinions of others. However, her connection with Reyes caused some tensions between her and her crew as they were concerned for her. But they didn’t understand Reyes or know him the way Esme did. If they comprehended that fact, Esme might not consider the actions of sneaking around behind their backs. She hated lying to the people she came to view as friends, but she was left with no choice.

“No. In my culture, we learn that the heart desires what the heart desires and nothing can stop the heart. I do not seek to dissuade you or stand in your way,” Jaal declared with an air of sage wisdom, and Esme managed a stunning smirk. She and the others still had plenty they could learn from Jaal and Angaran culture. Jaal shrugged nonchalantly, “Besides, Cora says you like bad boys.”

“No comment,” Esme chuckled, and she accepted Jaal’s reasonable and surprisingly positive reaction to her sneaking out to see Reyes in stride. She adjusted the Sidewinder in the holster and pushed back her stray hairs that framed her face alluringly. Now, on to see Reyes. Jaal watched Esme descend the ramp and gave a little huff of amusement. Humans could be such strange creatures sometimes. 

Esme stepped off the ramp of the Tempest and into the Kadaran night, which was surprisingly warm and slightly humid. Adjusting the pistol she slipped into her thigh holster, Esme felt prepared to trek to the slums. So, she walked across the ship dock and ignored how several of the male workers stopped working to watch her pass by without as much as a glance. With her hair down and a sexy black dress on, Esme was virtually unrecognizable to most as the Pathfinder, but she shocked all, those who recognized her and those who didn’t. She swayed her hips with every step and reveled in the powerful feeling she gleaned from sauntering around in heels.

She reached the end of the docks, where she knew she could catch a lift down to the slums. Esme brushed back her hair from her eyes, which gave her a sultry and feminine mystique appearance that cultivated stares. She reached for the console to summon the lift when she noticed activity in her peripheral vision, and a human exile staggered up to her, his clumsy stumbling letting her know that he was drunk. If that didn’t translate, the smell of alcohol wafting off his breath when he drew near acted as a dead giveaway to his heavily inebriated state.

“Well, aren’t you the most exquisite sight in the entire damn galaxy?” The man slurred his words together to where Esme barely translated the mishmash of his statement and grinned at her, revealing their yellowed and crooked smile. Esme slightly tilted her head toward him, but her eyes remained fixed on the lift console. She pressed the buttons to summon a lift when the drunken exile put his hand on her arm with an uncomfortable grip. She narrowed her eyes at him and jerked her arm from his grasp, which seemed to anger the exile. He tried to grab onto her again, but Esme maneuvered her arm out of the way, so he missed it. 

“Putting hands on me will only end up with you staring down the barrel of my pistol.” Esme calmly explained to the exile, but her eyes flashed dangerously. She may look pretty, and all dolled up, but she wasn’t afraid to bust a creep up with her bare fists if needed. The exile bristled at her thinly veiled threat, but he wanted this pretty little thing enough to ignore the risk.

“I’d suggest you start moving along.” Another voice cut into the conversation, catching both Esme and her harasser by surprise when they faced him walking up from behind. He wore the uniform belonging to the Collective, which made the exile pale in the face. He staggered back a little when he realized that he lingered under two fierce glares: Esme’s and the stranger’s. The last thing the exile wanted was the Charlatan to hear word of him angering the Pathfinder, so he scurried off back in the direction of Kralla’s Song. Esme huffed at the cowardly retreat but shelved her annoyance as she turned to the new addition. 

“Thank you for that.” Esme nodded respectfully and figured that the stranger wouldn’t give her too much trouble since the newfound alliance between the Charlatan and the Pathfinder was common knowledge at this point. It had only been days since Sloane’s reign of terror ended, and Reyes claimed Kadara for the Collective, but the entire area knew of the change. They also knew that the Pathfinder had some hand in the whole ordeal through rumors passed down the grapevine. 

“I got strict orders from the Charlatan to take good care of you.” The stranger remarked, and Esme raised her brow, seeing that the Charlatan demanded the people of Kadara treat the Pathfinder with respect and the best service available. The stranger leaned in after searching the perimeter for prying ears, “Reyes is eagerly awaiting you down in Tartarus, his usual spot.” He whispered, and Esme instantly relaxed when she realized she was in the company of one of Reyes’ trusted inner circle. Very few people in the Collective knew the identity of the Charlatan from what Reyes explained to her over a brief video conference they had the other night while the crew was out of the room. That same inner circle knew of Esme’s continued relationship with Reyes and her role in winning Kadara Port, so she knew she was in good hands.

“Then, I won’t keep him waiting,” Esme remarked with the corners of her ruby red pout quirking up into a sultry smirk and tossed her hair over her shoulder. The stranger laughed, knowing how Reyes awaited Esme with bated breath. Those in his inner circle watched his professed reputation image as a Casanova on which he based his persona slowly changed since Esme entered his life. He was still a flirty personality but only had eyes for Esme compared to when he would have several interested parties flitting about him at the same time. 

“Would you like an escort?” The Collective member offered to her, and Esme weighed his proposal for a moment, seeing nothing wrong with having a small escort.

“That would be quite appreciated.” Esme agreed with a nod, wanting to avoid any more incidents with other drunks or belligerent members of Kadara. The last thing she wanted to do was pull her pistol because that would sour what was meant to be an enjoyable evening for her. The stranger, who still never gave Esme his name, turned to the docks and whistled. Moments later, a burly man in a Collective uniform emerged from the darkness. The second stranger walked up to Esme and glanced her over, recognizing her as the Pathfinder after a moment.

“The Pathfinder requires an escort as the Charlatan demands.” The first stranger explained, and the second stranger gruffly nodded in understanding, not speaking a word. Esme figured that the newer addition wasn’t aware of her relationship to Reyes or the Charlatan’s identity. Therefore, she would remain discreet. The first stranger leaned over and summoned a lift to take Esme and her unofficial Collective escort down to the slums where Tartarus was. The doors to the lift opened, and Esme filtered into the small box and waited for the doors to close, staring straight ahead. The lift rumbled slightly as it descended below the upper rock layer, and soon, the lift opened to the slums. Up ahead, Esme spotted the familiar neon lights belonging to Tartarus and picked up on the faint hints of the electro-synth music the club often played. She moved forward once the lift came to a complete stop while the two Collective members flanked her sides and lingered a pace or two behind her. Esme climbed the stairs with practiced ease but made it appear that she was not hurrying up the stairs. She waited right outside the doors for her escort to catch up to her, glancing over her shoulder when they did. She basked in the neon lights and gave a coy smile to her guard, one who understood and the other who didn’t but seemed to not pay much attention.

“Thank you, boys,” Esme remarked with a wave over her shoulder and stepped into the upper level of Tartarus, finding her senses assaulted by the music and lights. Esme brushed through the throngs of people gathered together, and people hardly glanced her way at another person dressed for a night out. Although Esme was arguably the most eye-catching person in the whole place. She moved through the crowd and ended up in front of the back-room Reyes kept reserved for his usage. She used her omni-tool to open the doors, and she instantly spotted Reyes lounging on the settee of the room and bathed in a crimson red neon glow that made her heart thud.

Reyes’ eyes landed on Esme standing seductively in the doorway and trailed down how the black, slinky dress hugged her svelte figure in all the right places. His next thought was a mixture of pride and amusement when he noticed the pistol holstered to Esme’s thigh as she approached him; the weapon was such an Esme thing to do.

_“That’s my girl.”_ Reyes thought to himself as Esme sauntered over to him, and the doors closed behind her, ensuring them privacy. He rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around her waist the moment she drew close enough, eliciting a smile from Esme. Her eyes, a bright emerald, shone with emotion—excitement, longing, vulnerability. Esme leaned in and hovered her lips millimeters away from his, staring at him through her dark, voluminous lashes. Reyes’ eyelids lowered, and he beckoned Esme a little closer to him while he leaned back into his usual seat. Esme contemplated sitting down on his lap but chose the space next to him.

“Thought you’d be in the throne room… Tartarus is shabby for Kadara’s new leader, don’t you think?” Esme questioned while she sat down. Reyes handed her a drink, and she accepted it, recognizing it to be a Kadaran Sunrise. She smirked; Reyes happened to know her favorite drink at the bar and ordered it in advanced. Way to sweep a girl off her feet after a couple days away.

“Come on, Esme. You know I prefer to rule from the shadows.” Reyes chuckled, and the way her name rolled off his tongue felt so right. Compared to when he called her ‘Ryder,’ Esme noted the way hearing her first name come from him carried a sense of intimacy.

“This is your chance to go legitimate.” Esme declared, and she glanced at him, wondering how he situated to his new position of power. Did anyone have a clue that the Charlatan walked among them every day? Did they know that a ‘third-rate smuggler’ as Sloane saw him could flip the tables and overthrow the power structure of Kadara? She had so many questions that she wanted answered, but those were for another time. Tonight, she and Reyes would celebrate their victories: winning Kadara Port for the Nexus and each other.

“I’m not built for the spotlight. The angara you met at Sloane’s party—Keema Dohrgun. She’s agreed to be my front. And with Sloane gone, there’s room for the Initiative on Kadara.” Reyes explained, and he grabbed a Kadaran Sunrise of his own. He held his glass out to hers.

“I’ll start rounding up volunteers for an outpost. Might take a while as you exiles have a reputation.” Esme remarked when she clinked her glass against Reyes’ in a toast. She brought the glass to her lips and tilted it back, sipping at her drink while coyly peering at Reyes over the rim of the glass. She caught his eyes and fluttered her voluminous lashes and smoky eyes at him, eliciting a grin. Esme set down the finished drink and leaned back on the seat, a ruby red smirk fixed onto her lips. Tonight was the greatest victory of all.

“Not all of us are thieves and murderers…” Reyes retorted, and his expression caught for a moment while he re-evaluated his statement when Esme raised her brow at him. “I am, but some of the others are perfectly nice.”

“Perfectly,” Esme gleefully teased Reyes, and she bit down on her lip to keep from laughing. Kadara was a lawless land, a perfect reincarnation of the fabled Milky Way’s wild west. It was expected that people would turn to their worst sides when laws weren’t in place. She likely would have done the same thing; Esme knew she was shit at following rules most of the time.

“Jokes aside, I want this outpost as much as you do. It will have my full protection; that’s a promise.” Reyes assured Esme, stressing his trustworthiness as much as he could. Esme tilted her head to the side and studied Reyes. She knew that she could trust the outpost would be protected. Reyes didn’t have to go out of his way to gain her confidence in him; it was already there without needing to be spoken. 

“I allied myself with the right man.” Esme coyly declared as she reclined back and wished she had another Kadaran Sunrise, feeling the warmth associated with alcohol seeping into her stomach. It had been a while since she allowed herself some downtime at the bar. Reyes smiled at her, one that was genuine and far beyond his usual façade of bravado.

“If we’re done with all the boring business talk, there is something I want to do.” Reyes stated, and he rose from his seat, standing in front of her.

“You’re up to something… again.” Esme raised her brow at him while he fidgeted with his omni-tool, and her lips twitched with a grin threatening to break through. She waited for Reyes to explain when the sudden presence of classical jazz music filtered through the room. They sounded like the records her mother used to play when she was little, filling Esme with a sense of nostalgia ramming into her with the force of a freight train.

“I neglected you on our first date,” Reyes admitted, and he held his hand out to Esme with a genuine smile and dare she say, tenderness in his eyes. With Sloane gone, the mounting stress from the constant skirmishes and planning for victory melted away. “How about we fix that?”

“I didn’t know you had a romantic streak.” Esme mused, and she slipped her hand in his, allowing Reyes to help her up to her feet. He guided her out of the way of the table and to the center of the room, full of space for them to move. Reyes pushed Esme as far out as he could, and with a flick of his wrist, the momentum sent Esme careening back toward him. He easily caught her in the starting position for a basic waltz, something Esme remembered from her adolescence when her mother made her and Scott do that fancy cotillion program during high school.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Reyes murmured, his voice husky with what Esme could only assume was inklings of desire slipping through. His hand pressed into the small of her back and inched lower at what Esme thought was a glacial pace. The two swayed together in the neon red lights of the room and the surprisingly intimate embrace of the shadows. The club scene raged on outside the room, but Esme felt like Reyes transported her to another world. If Esme had stayed behind in the Milky Way, would she have met Reyes? That was a question she didn’t want answered. Speaking of Reyes, tonight was proving that she didn’t have him all figured out like she thought she did. There was gentleness in his movements that surprised Esme greatly; perhaps she had more to look forward to uncovering about Reyes. Reyes and Esme’s foreheads brushed together while they continued to dance. “Since leaving the Nexus, my survival has depended on secrets. I don’t want any more of those between us, Esme.”

“You’re the encrypted one.” Esme pointed out, and that comment made Reyes chuckle. He chuckled again, and Esme raised her brow at him. Meanwhile, they continued to sway to the gentle music that reminded her of the old records her mother would play when she was a little girl. “What?”

“I was about to say something cheesy.” Reyes explained vaguely, and Esme stared at him expectantly, knowing that he needed to tell her now that her interest was piqued.

“Say it.” Esme demanded, but she had no idea how greatly she would regret that statement mere moments later.

“Consider me hacked,” Reyes declared with a cheeky grin and making direct eye contact with Esme. It took a total of a second for the pun to click with Esme. Cheesy indeed described that line accurately.

“Ugh, stop talking.” Esme playfully instructed, subsequently following a groan over the rather cheesy line Reyes entertained. He was one lucky asshole that she liked him so much to let such an atrocious display of humor slide. Her fingers found their way to the short hairs along the back of his neck and toyed with them while she leaned in. Reyes’ eyes closed while he too leaned in. Their lips brushed for a brief second before the two pressed their foreheads together. While swaying around in a circle, Reyes mapped out the peaks and valleys of Esme’s curves through the helpful choice of her attire. As beautiful and intimidating as Esme looked when wearing her armor, it made it impossible for Reyes to touch her the way he’d like.

“I’m having flashbacks to a certain cave. I blame you.” Reyes whispered as he spun Esme underneath his arm and held her hand to keep her connected to him like a lifeline. He took in Esme’s brilliant smile when he twirled her back under his arm, and she returned to their previous position: her chest pressed against his with no room wanting to be left between their bodies. 

“As I remember you saying in that email.” Esme cheekily replied, and she wet her lips. She too found herself revisiting their rendezvous in the cave but through a lens of anticipation. The feeling of Reyes’ hands on her left her distracted for the time they spent apart. It was easy enough to attribute her spacey state to other things, and her crew accepted her explanations at face value. But that didn’t matter anymore for Esme was there, in Reyes’ arms again. The two swayed together with not a single care in the world. There were no eyes watching them, and Esme felt free to do whatever she damn well liked. The way their bodies pressed together and left no space between them spoke volumes about where they both were. The incident with Sloane might have broken other people, but Reyes and Esme were stronger than ever.

The music eventually concluded, and Reyes tugged Esme close to him while he guided her back to the couch. Reyes sat down first, and Esme slyly slid onto his lap, straddling him on the edge of the couch. Reyes chuckled huskily and glanced at Esme’s sly grin, he was in a position that he quite liked.

“Now, this is a sight I’ll never get used to.” Reyes declared, and his fingertips traced down Esme’s spine in a tantalizingly slow pace, feeling every time she shuddered under his touch. His eyes admired the dress she wore; the gown complimented Esme’s svelte figure better than any pair of armor could. But the dress was a bonus to the amazing woman that was Esme Ryder.

“Oh, is that so?” Esme questioned, mirroring Reyes’ escalation with a downright provocative flutter of her lashes and a short chuckle, further drawing Reyes in. His lips hovered along the stretch of her neck and dragged his teeth against the sensitive skin, drawing a breathy gasp out of her. Reyes smirked, and his hands traveled down Esme’s back and dipped underneath the curve of her ass, settling her in his lap. Esme lifted his chin up with two of her fingers, and Reyes leaned in, capturing Esme’s lips, which she offered him in a bruising kiss.

“Yeah, one I’ll never get used to,” Reyes mumbled when he pulled back from Esme, their lips still close enough to where it felt like Reyes intended to whisper against her lips. He moved his lips down her jaw and along her neck to her pulse point. Esme swallowed, and she savored the delicious pressure of Reyes’ lips barraging her neck, but something stopped her from immersing herself entirely into the sensation.

“I… Reyes, I have to head back to the Nexus tomorrow evening.” Esme declared abruptly, reminding herself of the unfortunate reality awaiting her when the sun rose the next morning over the Kadaran horizon. The mood dimmed after that statement, and Reyes stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“I know,” Reyes replied, and the undercurrent of pre-emptive longing was felt by Reyes and Esme alike. She didn’t want to go, and he didn’t want her to leave. Esme only returned to him, and she was being called away by her duty, one she never chose in the first place. The two eyed each other with so much they wanted to say but contemplated if some things were better left unsaid. 

“I don’t want to go. I don’t know when I will see you again.” Esme whispered solemnly, and she wished she could postpone the trip. However, the illustrious director Tann was finding himself uncomfortable with her extended stays in Kadara and how that might paint the exiles in a more sympathetic light. Esme considered his reasoning idiotic, but she could dodge a summons for only so long. The Nexus leadership expected her to share her next move with challenging the Archon. While across the galaxy, Esme knew her heart would be left behind on Kadara until she returned. Not knowing when she would see him next made Esme the most uneasy. Things on Kadara could still be dangerous in the aftermath of the regime change from the Outcasts to the Collective, which meant Reyes was far from safe. He might be hidden behind Keema acting as his front, but anything could happen.

“Let’s not think about that.” Reyes instructed, and Esme met his eyes, seeing the minute sadness she felt mirrored in those brilliant amber worlds. “Right now, I say we make the most of the time we have. We wouldn’t want your crew to realize that you’re missing.” Reyes hinted while he laid Esme back on the couch, and he perched himself between her spread legs. Esme wrapped them around his hips and beckoned him closer to her. Reyes brushed the strand of hair from Esme’s face with a semblance of tenderness. Unlike before where the two were frantically speeding through the motions, Esme and Reyes were enveloped in a softness. Reyes kissed Esme with a soft beginning that gradually morphed into the fiery passion that screamed their evident chemistry. Esme threw her arms around Reyes, shunning the thought of him leaving from the back of her mind.


End file.
